WHO says Coronavirus spread increasingly driven by people in their 20s, 30s and 40s

On August 18, the World Health Organisation’s regional director Takeshi Kasai said that coronavirus is being easily spread in people in their 20s, 30s and 40s and many are not even aware that they are affected. He added that more and more people including the elderly, the sick people in long-term care and people living in densely populated areas, are more vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. Reports suggest that there are 22,052,385 cases of coronavirus currently in the entire world with 777,470 deaths which have been reported. The highest number of cases are reported in the United States of America.

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COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Even though the average number of cases per day in the United State have declined, the cases are still running high with an average of 54,000 cases per day, reportedly. Russia became the first country to approve a vaccine against the virus. The Russian Health Ministry, on August 15, confirmed that the country has already initiated the production of its COVID-19 vaccine. Named Sputnik V, the clinically approved vaccine against the novel coronavirus has been manufactured by the Gamaleya Research Institute in collaboration with the Russian Health Ministry. 

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As Russia begins production, the World Health Organisation said that it was focused on accelerating vaccine development and making sure that it was available to all. Briefing reporters in Geneva, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that a ‘rapid, fair and equitable’ distribution to all countries was required if a successful vaccine was developed in future. In his address, he also talked about 'Vaccine Nationalism', saying that excess demand and limited supply of a vaccine in future is bound to cause discrimination and price gauge. Calling it a market failure, he said that only way to solve it was through global solidarity, public sector investment and engagement.

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(Image Credits: AP)